The Montreal Canadiens went through one of the worst seasons in franchise history in 2011-12, but the reward was the chance to select Alex Galchenyuk with the No. 3 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.

Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin, who was hired seven weeks prior to that draft, never had any doubts about Galchenyuk's potential to become an impact player in the League despite a torn anterior cruciate ligament that cost him all but eight games with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League in his draft year.

"It was the look in his eyes," Bergevin said the night of the 2012 draft. "Hockey is the most important thing in his life. He wants to be a hockey player, and nothing's going to stop him from being a hockey player."This might be the season Galchenyuk becomes not only a hockey player, but a star hockey player.

Galchenyuk made the Canadiens coming out of the NHL lockout in 2012-13, and played all 48 regular-season games and all five games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He had 27 points as an 18-year-old rookie, 26 at even strength, in becoming one of a select group of players to be a regular in the NHL the same year he was drafted.

Between the 2005-06 and 2011-12 seasons, 20 forwards made the jump to play at least 40 games in the League the same year they were drafted. Galchenyuk is one of six forwards who have done it since 2012.

The progression of those 20 forwards in their third NHL season suggests Galchenyuk might be on the verge of a breakout in 2014-15, his third season.